Units

1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles

Two dismounted troopers from the 1st Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles
in conversation on the South African veldt, their Stetsons showing
signs of wear. Their dress is adapted to the conditions of service on
the veldt and shows the Western-Canadian influence.

The North-West Mounted Police, with some 750 personnel, could field
more trained mounted men than the regular army. L.W. Herchmer,
commissioner of the force, offered to raise a unit of ‘picked
police, ex-police and cowboys' to fight in South Africa. Ottawa
accepted his offer when it decided to raise a second contingent for
overseas service. The new unit recruited at North-West Mounted Police
posts across the western territories in what are now the provinces of
Saskatchewan and Alberta. Members of the police filled thirteen of the
twenty officer positions, and made up roughly forty percent of the other
ranks.

The battalion was originally named the 2nd Battalion, Canadian
Mounted Rifles (CMR), but this was later changed to the 1st Battalion,
CMR. The unit arrived
at Cape Town on 27 February 1900, the day that the Boers surrendered at
Paardeberg. Despite concerns that the war would end before the unit saw
action, in March and April, it took part in the expedition to suppress a
rebellion by Boers in the western Cape Colony before joining the march
to Pretoria and beyond. While the battalion did well, it was hampered
to a certain extent by changes in the ranks of its senior officers
caused by battle casualties and the departure of the commanding officer,
North-West Mounted Police Commissioner Herchmer, whose health broke down.
He was replaced by
Lieutenant-Colonel T.D.B. Evans,
an officer from the
Royal Canadian Dragoons. The
battalion nonetheless distinguished itself on a number of occasions,
and earned a reputation for aggressive scouting.